Another Comeback for UNC as Eastern Falls 58-54

Nine-point lead doesn't hold up and Eagles miss out on another
great opportunity for league win over Bears

History repeated itself and the Eastern Washington University
men's basketball team fell to Northern Colorado 58-54 in an
important Big Sky Conference game Thursday (Feb. 18) in Greeley,
Colo.

The Eagles went 9:33 without a field goal in the second half as
UNC used a 12-0 run to rally for the win. A pair of late
three-pointers by the Eagles were for naught as UNC took the lead
for good with a three-pointer with 23 seconds to play. After a miss
with six seconds left by Eagle Glen Dean, the
Bears iced the win with a pair of free throws with three seconds
remaining.

The Bears are now 10-1 at home this season, having knocked off
EWU 74-71 on Jan. 16 in Cheney, Wash., in a game in which they used
a 16-0 run to overcome a 15-point Eastern lead.

The Eagles had 17 turnovers in the rematch, including 13 in the
first half. Eastern held the Bears to 34 percent shooting in the
game and were out-rebounded by just one, 30-29. The Bears were
coming off an 81-76 loss at league-leader Weber State.

"They had a little more juice coming off a loss and playing at
home, and they knocked us on our heels," said Eastern head coach
Kirk Earlywine. "We were down by only two at
halftime and we hung in there. You think if you go on the road and
you hold an opponent to 34 percent -- and stay even on the glass --
you think you would win the game."

Freshman Jeffrey Forbes was the lone Eagle in
double figures in scoring with 15, scoring 12 of his points in the
second half. He made 5-of-12 shots from the field with a trio of
three-pointers. Dean added eight points and six assists, and
Laron Griffin came off the bench to finish with
seven points and six rebounds.

The Eagles fell behind early 6-0 and 12-5, but used an 11-0 run
to help open a four-point lead just before halftime. The lead
swelled to nine on a three-pointer by Forbes with 11:53 left in the
game.

A trey by EWU's Matthew Brunell -- his second
of the game and just his third this season -- maintained EWU's
nine-point lead at 43-34 with 10:56 to play. But the Eagles missed
their next eight shots, and only managed free throws while UNC
opened a 53-48 with 1:36 remaining.

A three by Forbes with 1:23 left broke EWU's field goal-less
stretch, and another trey by Mark Dunn gave EWU a
short-lived 54-53 advantage with 38 ticks remaining.

Despite the loss, Eastern is one of five teams still alive for
the two remaining berths in the Big Sky Conference Tournament that
starts on March 6. The Eagles are now 8-19 overall and 4-9 in the
Big Sky to currently rank seventh in the league standings. Northern
Arizona, a team EWU plays Saturday (Feb. 20), is 6-9 in the league
after an 86-85 double-overtime victory against Portland State on
Thursday. The Vikings are now 5-8, including a pair of victories
over EWU which will gives them a tiebreaker advantage over the
Eagles.

Northern Colorado, which played the EWU game without its
second-leading scorer, is currently in second place in the league
with a 10-4 record and is 21-6 overall. The Bears played without
Devon Beitzel, who is out indefinitely with an ankle injury and is
averaging 14.3 points per game.

Eastern plays its final Big Sky Conference road game of the
season at Northern Arizona on Saturday at 5:35 p.m. Pacific time in
a contest that will be carried via radio in the Spokane area on
1050am. The game will also be televised on Fox Sports Arizona
(DirecTV 686, Dish Network 415), and will also be available at www.bigskytv.org and Dish
Network channel 9411.

A win Saturday against the Lumberjacks could put the Eagles back
in the thick of the race to garner one of six berths in the Big Sky
Conference Tournament that starts on March 6. Also fighting for the
final two berths are NAU (6-8), Portland State (5-8), EWU (4-9),
Idaho State (4-9) and Sacramento State (3-10).

Because of a season sweep, the only team Eastern has a solid
tiebreaker advantage over is Montana State. But the Bobcats have
already clinched a post-season berth and are 9-6 on the season. The
other teams that have clinched berths are Weber State (11-2),
Northern Colorado (10-4) and Montana (9-5).

The regular season ends for the Eagles with home games against
league-leader Weber State on Feb. 26 and Idaho State the next
night. Eastern's home sweep last week -- 74-69 over MSU and 69-68
against the Grizzlies -- helped keep the Eagles alive.

The Lumberjacks are 12-13 overall and have a 7-4 record at home,
and registered a 73-69 victory over Eastern on Jan. 15 in Cheney,
Wash. Eastern has a current five-game losing streak in Flagstaff,
Ariz., dating back to Jan. 15, 2004 when Eastern was victorious
63-57.

In the previous meeting, the Lumberjacks won a game that
featured 12 ties and 18 lead changes, with the largest lead by
either squad five points. Northern Arizona scored 11 of the game's
final 13 points in the last 2:05 as Eastern failed to come up with
winning plays down the stretch in that game.

With three freshmen now in their starting lineup -- Glen
Dean, Jeffrey Forbes and Kevin Winford --
four of EWU's losses during a recent seven-game losing streak were
decided by six points or less. So far this season, 15 of 27 Eastern
games have been decided by six points or less. EWU is 6-9 in those
15 nail-biters.

EWU-NAU Series History (Since 1983-84): The
Eagles have lost eight of the last 10 meetings, but last year's
54-50 home victory broke a five-game losing streak. Eastern also
has a current five-game losing streak in Flagstaff, Ariz., dating
back to Jan. 15, 2004 when Eastern was victorious 63-57. Earlier
this season, Northern Arizona won in Cheney 73-69.

Since Eastern became a member of NCAA Division I in the
1983-84 season, the Eagles are 21-31 versus Northern Arizona,
including a 6-18 record in Flagstaff, Ariz., 14-12 in Cheney and
1-1 on neutral courts. Eastern trails in the all-time series 21-32
(6-18 in Flagstaff, 14-13 in Cheney, 1-1 neutral).

Eastern had won six-straight games against the Lumberjacks and
nine of the last 11 until falling 77-64 in Flagstaff on Feb. 5,
2005. The Lumberjacks beat EWU 105-95 on Jan. 5, 2006, in a game in
which Eastern's Rodney Stuckey scored a school-record 45 points.
Eastern defeated the Lumberjacks 73-61 in Cheney on Feb. 4, 2006,
but lost twice in both the 2006-07 and 2007-08 season. In 2008-09,
Eastern lost 72-49 in Flagstaff and won 54-50 in Cheney.

Until a 72-65 victory in Flagstaff in the 2000-2001 season,
Eastern had lost nine-straight meetings there since Feb. 16, 1991.
Coupled with a win later in the 2000-2001 season, Eastern swept the
regular season meetings with the Lumberjacks for the first time in
10 years. Eastern duplicated that feat in 2003 and 2004.

Earlier This Season . . . Eastern Falls Late to
Lumberjacks 73-69: Thanks to a late back-door layin,
Northern Arizona outscored Eastern Washington 11-2 in the final
2:05 to knock off the Eagles 73-69 Jan. 15 in a Big Sky Conference
men's basketball game at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash.

Eagle guard Benny Valentine scored 14 points to
lead five Eagles in double figures as EWU fell to 6-12 on the
season and 2-3 in league play. Northern Arizona improved to 2-4 in
the Big Sky and 8-9 overall in a game that featured 18 lead changes
and 12 ties.

Eastern led 67-62 against the Lumberjacks with 3:05 to play,
lost the lead with a 6-0 NAU run, but re-gained a 69-68 advantage
with 44 seconds left on a short jump shot by Mark
Dunn. However, NAU's Cameron Jones got loose for a
back-door layin on a pass from Eric Platt to take the lead for good
with 31 seconds to play. Eastern missed its last two shots and had
a turnover in the final 20 seconds as Jones finished with a
game-high 28 points for the Lumberjacks.

"The most disappointing thing is that we told our players in the
timeout exactly what play Northern Arizona was going to run,"
Eastern head coach Kirk Earlywine said. "They ran
the back door that we knew they were going to run and I'm not sure
what more we can do as coaches. That play was the very first thing
we practiced guarding when we began preparations on Monday."

Brandon Moore had the fourth double-double of
the season and 10th in his career as he finished with 11 points, 10
rebounds and three assists versus NAU. Jeffrey
Forbes added 13 points and three steals, Glen
Dean scored 11 with four assists and a pair of steals and
Dunn finished with 10 points.

Valentine made 5-of-7 shots from the field and added three
assists. It was his highest-scoring game in nearly a month since
finishing with 17 versus Jackson State on Dec. 23.

Northern Arizona led at halftime 36-35 after a first half that
included eight ties and eight lead changes. The Lumberjacks made a
blistering 64 percent of their shots from the field and blocked six
shots as Eastern made just 39 percent. The Eagles, however, were
aided by 12 NAU turnovers.

The Lumberjacks cooled off in the second half, but were able to
open a five-point lead midway through the half. But Eastern used a
7-0 run to regain the lead, and held an advantage until the final
minutes.

Northern Arizona finished with 22 turnovers and made 55 percent
of its shots from the field. Eastern shot at a 42 percent clip and
was out-rebounded 37-29, but had just 13 turnovers.